The loyalty shown from PGA players following the LIV Golf surge has finally paid off.

Some of golf’s biggest stars are beginning to be rewarded for resisting strong recruitment from the Saudi-funded LIV Golf league, which began in 2022. The PGA is a historically strong organization, owning the professional golf world since 1916. This past April, the PGA created a plan to spread out $750 million in equity to 36 players based on their career performance, recent performance, and other measured factors. It is not clear how much players will be receiving, however The Telegraph reported that all-time great Tiger Woods would receive $100 million in equity, along with Rory McIlroy getting $50 million to compensate for their loyalty.

The reports of a new professional golf league began on May 4, 2021. At that point, all that was known was that big name major champions like Phil Mickelson and Dustin Johnson were linked to it. Eventually, the LIV Golf name was put into place and information about the funding was released. Saudi Arabia had fully backed the league and began what was a major shakeup in the golf world.

The selling point of the new league was simple: guaranteed lumps of money, three round tournaments instead of four, and fewer events throughout the year. In the PGA, money was not guaranteed, players had to earn it by placing well in tournaments.

For older players like Mickelson, who is now 53, it was a no brainer to leave. Their careers on the PGA have been steadily declining, and guaranteed money with a lighter schedule was a dream come true. Many players followed, including major winners Sergio Garcia and Louis Oosthuizen, alongside Kevin Na, Ian Poulter, and Lee Westwood. This was just the beginning of LIV; later in the year, huge names such as Bryson Dechambeau and Brooks Koepka joined the league, receiving massive contracts upwards of $100 million.

In 2022, the PGA took away all tour cards from LIV players, restricting them from playing in any PGA tournaments. There have been four tournaments per year, the four major championships, which have seen players from both LIV and PGA at the same time: The Masters, The PGA Championship, The U.S. Open, and The Open (British). These are the biggest tournaments each year. Since the split, only two LIV golfers have won a major championship, Jon Rahm winning the Masters, and Brooks Koepka winning the PGA Championship, both in 2023.
Many players and fans have spoken out against the new league.

Senior Varsity Golfer Jivan Girodet thinks LIV is disorganized and doesn’t provide players with the motivation to be the best.

“I don’t know how anybody can watch LIV Golf seriously,” he stated. “It’s super unprofessional, the competition isn’t as good, and the players seem to be getting lazier after going over. I’m just happy the PGA players are now getting paid for staying and turning down the money,” he added. This is a common viewpoint for golf fans around the world. People want to see the best golfers playing in the same tournaments, and LIV has destroyed that.

With PGA players now getting rewarded, it must be relieving for these guys that passed up on life changing money for the betterment of the game. LIV viewership is much lower than PGA, and with LIV players not performing as well as expected, there potentially could be some regret there.

The future of the LIV and PGA relationship is uncertain and unpredictable, but it will certainly be interesting to see what it holds.